Baghdad bows to pressure on pardons

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A girl watches a soldier from the Iraqi Army's 2nd Battalion, trained in counter-insurgency, on patrol in Baghdad.Picture:AP

Under American pressure, the Iraqi Government has dropped plans to offer a general pardon to insurgents who have killed US and other coalition troops, according to Iraqi officials and the latest draft of a proposed amnesty law.

The changes were made after objections from the US embassy in Baghdad and from political parties within Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Government. The Kurds and Shiites were worried that a broad amnesty would allow many leading Baath Party activists to escape prosecution for their role in the insurgency, a senior Iraqi official said.

"The amnesty has been narrowed down. No one accused of killing or rape or kidnapping will be eligible," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Dr Allawi had drafted legislation offering a full pardon to anyone not involved in killing or raping Iraqis. While the proposal did not specifically mention guerillas who attacked US troops, those insurgents would have been covered by the broad amnesty. The latest draft would exclude anyone "directly involved in serious acts of violence, such as killing, rape or kidnapping". It does not make a distinction between Iraqi and foreign victims.

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Estimates of the number of insurgents in Iraq have ranged from 5000 to as high as 20,000. No one knows how many guerillas have been involved in attacks on US troops but the senior Iraqi official acknowledged that the revised amnesty could exclude "several thousand people". It is aimed at low-level insurgents, rather than senior leaders or Baathist financiers believed to be bankrolling segments of the rebellion.

Meanwhile, Pentagon documents reveal that Iraqi prisoners were allegedly stripped of their clothing and exposed to harsh conditions at two war-zone detention facilities separate from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

The Denver Post reported that the US Army was investigating whether a detainee was sexually humiliated during an interrogation at forward operating base Summerall, near Bayji, and whether several prisoners were forced to stand naked in the rain for 12 hours at a Balad base earlier this year. Until now, Abu Ghraib has been the only detention facility in Iraq where sexual abuse allegations have been investigated by army officials, according to the newspaper.

The amnesty has been narrowed down. No one accused of killing or rape or kidnapping will be eligible.Iraqi official

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair forcefully defended his decision to join America in waging war against Iraq and told Parliament that intelligence assessments left "little doubt" that Saddam Hussein was trying to develop prohibited weapons.

Opening a six-hour debate in the House of Commons, he faced a volley of questions about the Butler report, released last week, which was highly critical of British intelligence on Iraq and the Government's handling of the information but cleared Mr Blair of intentionally deceiving the public. Despite the criticism in the report, Mr Blair said it was clear that Saddam was trying to build weapons of mass destruction, a conviction he said was shared by the international community.